We'll see

Lately I've been feeling out of touch and disconnected; from my surroundings, the people around me, from my own self. Do you ever feel that way? When all you can think about are the problems, the minutiae of every day life, when you end up worrying too much or too little about things that are senseless or of grave importance that you end up cutting yourself off from all the things you hold dear? When your life seems like it's just passing you by?






On the beginning of February was the one year anniversary of my dad's sudden death. It was a difficult month, in all respects, still I didn't share any of it with you. I wanted to keep it light over here, I didn't want to let you in on my rather gloomy world as of late.






Perhaps winter is to blame. The days are still dark, even if March is here, just barely, the skies have that all too familiar shade of grey, the fog is surrounding every building, tree and obstructs my view of the world it seems, and the sun only peeks through the clouds for mere moments; not enough to lift my spirits.






Bad things happen, I know, not just death, but illness, depression, fights among people who love each other deeply, mood swings, lack of money, of space, of time, of will to create. The antipode of all that is life, breathing clean air, laughter, cuddling with ones love, sharing food. Yes, sharing food always comes into play when I'm thinking about what really matters in life.






Food, sharing it, enjoying it with the ones you love or offering it to those who need it more than you do. Celebration, bereavement, a dinner table set with plain dinnerware and extraordinary food, a picnic, a lunch with friends.






I don't care if all this makes sense or not. It's raw, it's me. It's my space, it's my voice, it's my food. Please, join me.






I have been doing a lot of cooking lately. Not sharing it here but with the people I love; my S. and my brother who was staying with us for a while. I was not sharing it with you but the time has come.






Perhaps I will be posting more these following weeks, perhaps not. We'll see. Perhaps with less words and more photos and actual food, perhaps without food at all and just me, talking, writing, we'll see. What I do know, is that I need to make a change here. I need change. Only that can move me forward.
We'll see.






The recipe...
The Mouclade is a classic French dish of steamed mussels in a curry cream sauce. It is a dish that needs to be shared and enjoyed among friends.
A large plate of mussels is put in the middle of the table, the creamy sauce is poured generously over the top and the parsley is scattered around. Hands start digging in, taking the mussels one by one, with the rich golden sauce dripping all over the tablecloth. The bread is crunchy and crumbs fall on the floor and the wine is abundant and no one stops until there's only a speck of sauce left in the plate, and the last person holding the last piece of bread dares not let it go to waste so they stand up, put their hand inside the large dish and bring that last, glorious bite to their mouth.











Mouclade - French Steamed Mussels in a Curry Cream Sauce
Adapted from Le Cordon Bleu

This is a creamy, rich, indulgent mussel dish. The curry adds an exotic accent to it and makes it ideal for cold winter nights, or crisp spring evenings that are yet to come.

The crème fraîche and egg yolks add creaminess and thicken the sauce, as does also the beurre manié. Beurre manié means 'kneaded butter' in French and it is a hand-kneaded paste of softened butter and flour (in equal parts) that is whisked into sauces, soups or stews and that works as a thickening agent. It is extremely easy to make, as you will see in the recipe below.






Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

for the mussels
1 ½ kg whole mussels with their shells (I used Jumbo-sized mussels)
150 ml dry white wine, like Sauvignon Blanc
2 dried bay leaves
20 black whole peppercorns
1 small shallot, finely chopped
A handful of fresh parsley stalks

for the beurre manié
20 g unsalted butter, softened
20 g all-purpose flour

for the sauce
15 g unsalted butter
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
10 g (2 Tbsp) curry powder
1 Tbsp Armagnac or Cognac or Brandy
400 ml mussel liquid
250 ml cream, full-fat
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

2 large egg yolks
65 g (3 Tbsp) crème fraîche

A handful of fresh, flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped for sprinkling over the dish

Special equipment: colander, fine sieve, muslin or cheese cloth, brush for cleaning the mussels


Preparation

Cleaning the mussels
Read here on how to clean mussels.

Cooking the mussels
In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, add the mussels, wine, bay leaves, peppercorns, the finely chopped shallot and the parsley stalks. Turn heat on to medium-high and close the lid. When steam starts to get released from the sides of the pan, turn heat down to medium, shake the pan gently and let mussels steam for about 5 minutes or until their shells have opened. Shake the pan every minute or so, in order to ensure the even cooking of the mussels. Don't shake the pan too hard because the shells might break. Be careful not to overcook the mussels because they will dry out and become rubbery. You need them to be plump and juicy.


Drain the mussels and reserve the liquid. Discard any mussels that did not open while steaming. Set mussels aside and cover them to keep them warm.
Pass the mussel liquid through a fine sieve lined with a muslin or cheese cloth to get rid of any sand or impurities, and into a bowl, and measure it. You will need about 400 ml. Set mussel liquid aside.

for the beurre manié
In a small bowl, add the softened butter and the flour. Mix and knead with your fingers until you have a smooth paste.
Simple as that!


Note: The beurre manié can keep in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Use it to thicken up sauces, soups or stews as described below in this recipe.

for the sauce
In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the finely chopped shallot and the minced garlic and turn heat down to low. Sauté them until soft, stirring constantly so they don't catch, and add the curry powder. Stir it around, frying it, for 1 minute, and then add the Armagnac (or Cognac or Brandy). As soon as the alcohol smell disappears, pour the cooking juices from the mussels into the saucepan. Turn heat up to medium-high and bring to the boil. Add the cream, turn heat down to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste and if necessary, reduce the sauce a little to improve the flavor.


Add the beurre manié to the sauce little by little, whisking it lightly into the sauce as you do. The beurre manié contains raw flour so you need to cook it in order to get rid of the raw flour smell and taste.
While the sauce simmers away gently, whisk the egg yolks along with the crème fraîche in a medium-sized bowl. Add a little of the sauce into the bowl to temper the mixture (bring it to temperature), whisking continually, and then pour the egg yolk-crème fraîche mixture into the saucepan. Do not allow the sauce to come to the boil. Turn heat off.

Note: The sauce is supposed to be a little soupy. It is not supposed to be a thick sauce.

Serve the dish
Place the mussels in a large, deep serving dish and pour the sauce over the top. Sprinkle generously with the finely chopped parsley leaves and serve.
Alternatively, you can serve the mussels in individual soup bowls.

Accompany the dish with grilled/toasted, crunchy baguette slices and plenty of white wine.

How to clean mussels

Whenever you want to use in a dish mussels that are still in their shells (live mussels), use preferably fresh ones, although you can also use the ones sold packed in water (vacuum-sealed). Make sure though you check the packaging date and prefer the ones that have been packaged more recently.

To clean mussels in their shells, you will need a large colander and a brush (or small knife).

I am very meticulous when it comes to cleaning any kind of shellfish.
Place the mussels in a large colander and rinse them very well under running water for 3-4 minutes to get rid of the sand and any impurities. Discard any mussels whose shell is broken.
You will notice that there will be mussels whose shell is tightly closed and others whose shell is open. Those whose shell is closed are safe to keep. You need to tap on the shell of the ones that are open and if they close, then you can keep them. If not, discard them, they are dead.
Note: Not all mussels will close as soon as you tap them so put them aside and check them after 1 minute; if they're still open, discard them.




Grip the beard of each mussel and pull away towards the hinge end of the mollusk (not towards the part where the mussel opens up because that will cause the flesh of the mussel to tear). The beard is a mass of tough, brown fibers that stick out between the two shell halves of the mussel. Sometimes the beard is tough and thick and others it is thinner and it helps the mussels (as well as other mollusks) cling and attach to rocks or other objects in the water.
If you're having trouble pulling away the beard with your bare hand, use a knife to assist you in the tugging.

Give mussels a good scrub with a brush (or a small knife at a 45 degree angle, 'scraping' the shell), removing any barnacles that are attached to their shells. Then give them one last rinse and let them drain in the colander.

They are now ready to be used in your dish.

By the way, did you know that the orange flesh of the mussels indicates that it is a female while the off-white, paler flesh indicates that it is male?


You will find this helpful in the following recipes:

Greek Mussel Pilaf or "Midopilafo"

Mouclade - French Steamed Mussels in a Curry Cream Sauce

A savory tart

Growing up, I never ate savory tarts. My mother never made them. She always prepared the traditional Greek pies with thin or rustic phyllo, or even puff pastry, filled with Greek cheeses, spinach or horta, different types of wild greens that grow on Greek mountains.






Tarts were something I discovered in my early teenage years, when I started cooking on my own and wanted to try new things. The first tart I ever made was a French one with chicken, chicken livers and mushrooms, which was a complete disaster. It was tasty but it didn't quite resemble a tart.






Ever since that first attempt, I have made my fair share of savory tarts and it even came to the point where I would be confident enough to proudly present my well-baked and flavorful creations to the Sunday family lunch. However, in all honesty, I have always preferred the traditional Greek pies. I've always considered them a superior kind of pie.






The fact that I'm not a huge fan of savory tarts is quite evident here in this blog of mine. If you have ever browsed through the recipe index, you may have noticed that I don't have a lot of savory tart recipes there. Well, except for one which is actually a recipe for phyllo individual tartlets (which by the way are amazing).






Still, every so often, a recipe for a tart just catches my eye and I can't help but wanting to try it. That is the case with this one; a deserving one, a savory tart that is undoubtedly great; a prosciutto and taleggio tart with a polenta crust.






Prosciutto, taleggio, polenta; even the sound of these three ingredients makes my taste buds tingle with excitement. The crust of this tart is made with butter, parmesan cheese, and polenta—Italian cornmeal—,which gives the crust a pale yellow hue. The filling is made with prosciutto, an Italian dry-cured ham that is salty and delicious, and taleggio cheese, an Italian semi-hard, raw cow's milk cheese.






Taleggio is one of the oldest cheeses of Lombardy, dating as far back as the 9th century when it was first made in the area of Val Taleggio, and it has a spicy, nutty and fresh aroma. It's a rather fatty cheese, with 48% fat, and it has an excellent melting quality, which makes it ideal for risotto and pizza.






The crust is buttery, crispy and rich and when you bite into it, the polenta makes its presence known in between your teeth with its crunchy texture. The taleggio and parmesan give a pleasant saltiness to the tart, that balances perfectly with the meatiness of the prosciutto.






The custard in the filling is light, and the lemon zest on top adds a much needed acidic flavor that cuts through the rich quality of the cheeses. The roasted hazelnuts, that decorate and finish off the tart, add a beautiful nuttiness and crunch to it.






I may not be a lover of all things tart, but this is one I'm recommending you make. Oh yes, please do. You'll thank me later.











Prosciutto and Taleggio Tart with a Polenta and Parmesan Crust
Adapted from Delicious magazine

This is ideal for a brunch or lunch, served with leafy greens or a radicchio salad, but it is also perfect for a dinner party, cut into small pieces and served as a starter.

In keeping with the Italian-ingredients theme, accompany the tart with a robust Italian red wine, such as a Barbaresco or Barolo or, if you want to be a little more adventurous, with a Greek Xinomavro.

Update: After questions on the Greek page of my blog about substituting taleggio cheese (which can be hard to find in some parts of the world), I would like to suggest the following combinations of cheeses for substituting the taleggio: 1) fontina and a little blue cheese, 2) a soft Greek kaseri and a little blue cheese, 3) camembert or brie and a little blue cheese.






Yield: 1 large tart / 8-10 pieces

Ingredients

for the dough
225 g all-purpose flour
75 g polenta (or cornmeal)
½ tsp salt
150 g cold unsalted butter, diced, plus extra for greasing the pan
1 medium-sized egg yolk
25 g grated parmesan

for the filling
150 g prosciutto in slices, coarsely chopped
1 large garlic clove, coarsely chopped
30 ml (2 Tbsp) olive oil
1 red onion (around 80 g), finely chopped
200 g sour cream
2 medium-sized egg yolks
160 g taleggio cheese, rind cut off, sliced

40 g whole hazelnuts, skins removed
Zest of 1 medium-sized lemon
A little freshly ground black pepper

Special equipment: large food processor (optional), small food processor, box grater, rolling pin, cling film, fluted tart pan with removable bottom (rectangular 11x34 cm and 3 cm deep or round 26 cm in diameter and 3 cm deep), baking paper, pie weights (like dried rice or beans)


Preparation

Prepare the dough
• with a food processor
In a large food processor (this is the one I use), add the flour, the polenta and the salt, followed by the cubed cold butter, and let the machine run, until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and grated parmesan, and mix until the dough comes together into a ball. If the mixture is too dry and it doesn't seem to come together, add 1-2 Tbsp ice water and mix again, until you have a smooth, pliable dough.


• without a food processor
In a large bowl, add the flour, the polenta and the salt, and stir with a spatula. Add the cubed cold butter and, using two knives or a pastry cutter (this is the one I use) or even your fingertips, cut it into the flour, until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and grated parmesan and mix with your hands, working quickly, until the dough comes together into a ball. If the mixture is too dry and it doesn't seem to come together, add 1-2 Tbsp ice water and knead again slightly, until you have a smooth, pliable dough.

Take the ball of dough and, if you're using a rectangular-shaped tart pan, form the dough into a flattened-rectangular shape. If you're using a round tart pan, form the dough into a flattened-disk shape. Wrap it well with cling film and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Rolling out the dough
Take the dough out of the fridge and place it in between two large sheets of cling film. This will ensure that once you have rolled it out, it won't break when you try to move it. Roll it out, using a rolling pin, to a ½ cm-thick rectangle (if using a rectangular pan) or circle (if using a round pan). The size of the rolled-out dough must be larger than that of the tart pan.

Butter the bottom and sides of the tart pan. Remove the cling film that lies on top of the dough, slide your hand underneath the cling film at the bottom of the dough and transfer the dough, inverting it into the pan and being careful not to tear it. Remove the cling film that is now on top of the dough and press the dough gently to fit the pan, still being careful not to tear it. Using the back of a knife, cut the excess dough that's hanging around the edges of the pan and prick the dough all over with a fork. Place the pan in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. This will ensure that the dough will not shrink when baked.

Note: In case you have left-over dough, you can keep it in the freezer, wrapped in cling film or in a ziploc bag, for up to a month. Thaw it and use it to make smaller tarts.


Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Line the bottom and sides of the dough with a large enough piece of baking paper and fill it with pie weights, dried rice or beans. Place the pan on the bottom rack of the oven and bake the crust for 12 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven, remove the baking paper along with the pie weights and bake for another 8-10 minutes, until the dough is golden-brown and crispy.

Remove the pan from the oven and turn heat down to 180 degrees Celsius.


Prepare the filling
In the meantime, prepare the filling so that it will be ready when the tart crust has finished baking.
In a small food processor (or the same one you used for the dough), add the prosciutto, the garlic and 15 ml (1 Tbsp) of the olive oil. Process, until finely chopped and blended.


In a small frying pan, add the remaining 15 ml (1 Tbsp) of olive oil and heat over medium heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the finely chopped red onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, until it softens. Turn heat off and allow the onion to cool.
Spread the prosciutto mixture on the base of the baked crust and sprinkle with the sautéed red onion.

In a medium-sized bowl, add the 2 egg yolks and beat them lightly with a fork. Add the sour cream and mix well. Pour the mixture over the tart.

Note: You might be tempted to add salt to the egg mixture or the onions but don't! There is enough salt in the prosciutto and cheeses.

Place the sliced taleggio on top and return the pan to the oven, placing it on the middle rack this time. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the filling has just firmed up and set.


In the meantime, place the hazelnuts in a small frying pan and toast them over medium heat, stirring often so they don't catch, until they take on a golden-brown color and start releasing their oils. Then chop them coarsely.

Once the tart is ready, take it out of the oven and allow it to slightly cool on a wire rack. Remove the sides of the pan, add the chopped hazelnuts on top, sprinkle with the lemon zest and add some freshly ground black pepper.

Cut the tart into pieces and serve warm.

You can keep the tart, lightly covered, at room temperature, for a day.

Brownie love

I didn't know what a brownie was until about four years ago. In Greece, they had just become popular, along with cupcakes, but it wasn't until I moved to Holland that I experienced the real brownie, when one of my neighbors who is American, offered me a freshly baked one.






I became aware of their importance in the American food culture when I started this blog and discovered fellow bloggers from the United States who posted brownie recipes one after the other, raving about their fudginess. chewiness. awesomeness. I had to find out more; plus, chocolate was involved, so how could I not?






For any of you who don't know exactly what a brownie is, like I didn't some years ago, allow me to explain. Brownies are like cake but denser and heavier, and are usually made without a leavening agent. They consist of only a few basic ingredients and are generally made in one bowl. They're served in cut squares or bars and are often accompanied by milk (my favorite combination) or coffee.






There are three basic types of brownies, depending on their texture: a) fudgy brownies, that are dense, b) cake-like brownies, that resemble the texture of cake, and c) chewy brownies, a cross between fudgy and cakey. The ones I'm sharing with you, fall into the third category. There is also a fourth type of brownie, called a blondie, made without chocolate but with the addition of brown sugar.
The texture of brownies largely depends on the ratio of flour, butter, sugar, eggs and chocolate in the batter, as well as the method of mixing those ingredients together.
Brownies can also be made with a variety of nuts, chocolate chips, fruits and other ingredients.






The first time I made brownies myself, was a couple of years ago, when Deb of smitten kitchen—a fantastic cook, baker and food blogger—posted her cocoa brownies, that she had adapted from a recipe by Alice Medrich. It was lust at first bite, and that brownie promptly became my favorite kind of cocoa treat. But after a while, I became antsy, as it oftentimes happens with me, and I wanted to find something else. There were a lot of promising recipes which I did follow; recipes for fudgy brownies, recipes for cakey brownies, for chewy brownies. Some of them were flops, some of them were "blah", others delightful. Most of them contained too much sugar or too little chocolate, while others were too cake-like, too sticky, too chewy.






Last summer, I thought I've found the one; the best chocolate brownie ever. I had been meaning to share it with you ever since, but a few days ago, everything changed, as I ran into this recipe by Ruth Reichl in Gilt Taste. Ms. Reichl's chocolate brownie recipe is a vamped up one, as her goal is to make a better brownie, one that uses quality ingredients to boost up its flavor and texture and essentially, make the regular brownie extraordinary.






I was hooked and luckily, as I read through the recipe, I realized I had everything at hand to make the brownies. The verdict? They were the best brownies I have ever made, or better yet, sampled. They were chewy and fudgy, but not too fudgy that they stick to your teeth, the chocolate flavor was present but not overpowering, they were dense yet they retained that elusive lightness, they were soft and moist in the middle and crackly and crispy on top, they were, in a nutshell, the perfect brownie. S, who is famously anti-brownie, said to me, and I quote, "These are the best brownies I have ever tasted".






However, I have to mention the fact that they were slightly too sweet for my liking, that is why I used less sugar the second time I made them. Furthermore, Ruth Reichl suggests that you beat the eggs and sugar very well in a stand mixer, having as a result a taller brownie but instead, I opted for a wire whisk. I wanted my brownies to not be quite that tall and to be a little more chewy and dense.






If you are like S and me, and chocolate is your thing, but you don't want to make a huge fuss over Valentine's (for us especially this year, with all that's been happening back home in Greece these past few days), then make some brownies. Cut out some fondant little hearts to decorate the squares, and give them to your loved one.
They will love you forever. Or, at least, until they have the last bite of this brownie.











Chocolate Brownies
Adapted from Ruth Reichl

As I mentioned above, I used a wire whisk to beat the batter. You need some muscle to do this so if you are finding it difficult to beat by hand, switch to using a hand-held mixer. Make sure though to not overbeat the ingredients, in order to achieve a chewy and moist texture.

The important thing with these brownies is baking time. You want them to be cooked but not all the way through, as to retain some moisture and fudginess. You definitely don't want them to be dried out and cakey.

Please don't skip on dusting the Dutch-processed cocoa powder on the bottom of the pan. It adds some welcomed bitterness to the sweet brownies and a nice cocoa flavor. I also love the dark color it imparts. Notice in the photographs how different the bottom and top of the brownies look.






Yield: 16 large brownie squares

Ingredients
150 g good quality dark 55% chocolate, chopped
140 g unsalted butter, cut into cubes plus extra for buttering the pan
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
350 g caster sugar
4 large eggs
½ tsp sea salt
140 g all-purpose flour
Dutch-processed cocoa powder, for dusting the pan

White rolled fondant, for decorating the brownies (optional)

Special equipment: large wire whisk, fine sieve, 20x20 cm square baking pan, baking paper, little heart cookie cutter (optional)


Preparation
Butter the bottom and sides of the square pan. Line the bottom with a piece of baking paper and butter it. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with some cocoa powder and tap the excess out.

Place the chocolate and the butter in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water and melt, stirring often. The bottom of the bowl must not come in contact with the simmering water. Once the mixture is smooth and melted, remove bowl from the top of the pan and stir in the vanilla extract. Set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.


In a large bowl, add the eggs and the salt and beat well with a whisk for 1 minute, until they foam up. Add the sugar and beat with more vigor for about 3 minutes, until the mixture becomes a little fluffy.
Add the melted chocolate and butter mixture to the bowl and beat for ½ minute, until the ingredients have just combined.
Finally, sieve the flour over the bowl and mix it in using the whisk, folding the flour in the batter instead of beating it in, until just combined and there are no visible patches of flour.

Empty the batter in the prepared pan, place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and immediately turn the temperature of the oven down to 175 degrees Celsius. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle, comes out with some moist crumbs attached.


Take the pan out of the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool slightly. Remove the brownies from the pan by inverting it onto the wire rack. Remove and discard the baking paper and allow the brownies to cool completely. Invert the brownies onto a cutting board and cut them into 16 large squares, or if you wish, 32 smaller ones.

If you want to make these for Valentine's Day, you can cut out little fondant hearts and press them on top of each brownie.

Keep the brownies covered, at room temperature, for 3-4 days.